198 



Commercial Gardening 



flowers expand, and when required for winter use they are tied in bunches 

 and hung up to dry slowly in a shady, well-ventilated place. The chief 

 method of propagation is by cuttings or slips of the ripened wood inserted 

 in sandy soil in early autumn. 



Salsafy or Vegetable Oyster (Tragopogon porrifolius). This European 

 biennial belongs to the Dandelion and Chicory family, and is valued for 

 its fleshy tapering tap roots (fig. 514). The leaves are long, straight, 

 and narrow, greyish-green, with a whitish midrib. The flower heads are 

 violet. 



The soil should be deeply dug or trenched, and contain a fair supply 

 of humus. Seeds are sown in March or April, in 

 drills about 1 in. deep and 1 ft. apart, and the seed- 

 lings are thinned out to 4, 6, or 8 in. apart, the last- 

 named distance being best as a rule. During the 

 season the hoe should be used between the rows 

 and the plants, especially in dry periods. The roots 

 will be fit for lifting in October and November, and 

 may be stored in dry sand or soil during the winter 

 months until wanted for use. The skin is yellowish 

 but the flesh is white. When scraped and boiled, 

 and served up with melted butter, &c., they make 

 a good dish. There are a few varieties of Salsafy 

 grown for market, among the best being Giant 

 French Mammoth and the Mammoth Sandwich 

 Island. 



Savory. There are two kinds of Savory the 

 Summer Savory (Satureia hortensis), an annual; 

 and the Winter Savory (S. montana), a low-grow- 

 ing spreading perennial, both natives of South 

 Europe, and belonging to the Labiate family. The 

 Summer Savory is a fragrant plant, 6 to 9 in. high, 

 and its narrow leaves and young shoots are used for 

 flavouring boiled beans, soups, &c. It is raised 

 from seeds sown in the open in drills 1 ft. apart, 

 the seedlings being thinned out to 6 or 9 in. When 



the buds of the pale lilac or whitish flowers appear, the stems are cut off 

 and hung up to dry for future use. 



The Winter Savory also has narrow, sharply-pointed leaves, and pale- 

 purple, pinkish, or white flowers. It is practically hardy in the milder 

 parts of the kingdom, and if the tops are cut down every spring, there 

 will be a good crop of young shoots for cutting. Increase of stock is 

 secured by means, of seeds, cuttings, and slips. 



Scorzonera (Scorzonera hispanica).This is closely related to the 

 Salsafy and belongs to the same family (Compositse), but may be dis- 

 tinguished by the blackish skin of its tap roots, by its broader lance- 

 shaped oblong and pointed leaves, and by its bright-yellow flower heads. 



Fig. 514. Salsafy (Tragopogon 

 porrifolius) 



